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- "The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don't know you're in."
"The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don't know you're in."
Welcome back!
The fall foliage is coming in hot, but the leaves seem to be dropping mere moments after they change color. Are Sudbury’s trees going to be completely bare before Halloween?
In a desperate attempt to prolong autumnal bliss, why call in MassDOT to bring the leaf-dropping process to a screeching halt; just like they did with the flow of traffic at the intersection of Hudson and Peakham Road?
Of course, many drivers are confused by the traffic in Town Center. Is it a traffic jam on a public road, or the parking lot at a Tesla dealership? The Town provided a full update here. They were able to get MassDOT to come out on Wednesday, September 18 to make some adjustments to the timing of the lights. In addition to the timing changes, the Town also indicated there might be more changes ahead: “Further revisions may need to be completed by the contractor responsible for the installation of the traffic signals.”
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Specimen Ballot with Ballot Questions Available
Town Manager Gently Bursts Park and Rec’s Bubble — Fee Increases Loom
Historical Commission Revisits Tercentenary Markers
SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup
Voter Registration Celebration
Let’s get into it!
Specimen Ballot with Ballot Questions Available
By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury
A specimen ballot for the Nov. 5 election, which includes the five ballot questions, is now posted on the Town Clerk’s website.
The ballot includes the newly-contested race for Sudbury’s State Representative between incumbent Carmine Gentile and Virginia Gardner, who waged a successful primary election write-in campaign for the Republican nomination.
The Sudbury League of Women Voters will record a candidates’ forum for that race in early October. District residents are urged to submit questions for that forum to [email protected] or LWV Sudbury, P. O. Box 338, Sudbury, MA 01776. The deadline for questions is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Voter information on the five ballot questions is in the “red book,” the Massachusetts Information for Voters booklet recently sent to every household. That information is also available on the Secretary of State’s website.
Vote by mail ballot applications have also just been sent to voters by the Secretary of State. If you have already requested a mail ballot for all elections, you do not need to return that application. Otherwise, if you wish to vote by mail in the Nov. 5 election, return the card as soon as possible, but no later than Oct. 29, to the Sudbury Town Clerk. Mail ballots will be sent to voters requesting them three weeks before the election.
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 5 Presidential election is Saturday, Oct. 26. Check your registration status or register online at www.voteinMA.com.
Town Manager Gently Bursts Park and Rec’s Bubble — Fee Increases Loom
By Kevin LaHaise
On Monday, September 16, the Park and Recreation Commission assembled for a meeting with Town Manager Andy Sheehan. They were set to discuss a number of topics, including the funding and finances for the Park and Recreation Department.
After a lengthy discussion about the value of recreation to the Sudbury community, and the various expenses covered by the Recreation Field Maintenance Enterprise Fund, the commissioners honed in on the big issue that would determine the future of the department: funding.
In simple terms, the department has two key forms of revenue: fees it collects from programs, memberships and field rentals, as well as funding it gets from the Town of Sudbury general fund for a portion of department salaries. They have a revolving fund and two enterprise funds which are simply vehicles for capturing and utilizing revenue they collect.
Those funds are designed so the department can function somewhat like a private business, where it self-funds the majority of its operations. If the Town budget stops helping to fund some of the department salaries, the department will have to charge higher fees to cover those salaries through it’s own operating revenues, or make cuts.
Buckle Up
Sheehan was forthright with his message to the commissioners regarding funding the department. As Sheehan has previously stated, he would like to eventually stop subsidizing the Town’s enterprise funds via the general fund. Early in the meeting he cited the fiscal challenges the Town faces, as well as pressures created by Proposition 2 ½, and the minimal growth of residential and commercial developments in Sudbury. Then he delivered the bad news:
“I don’t know that we’ll have the ability in the near-term to take on more of the Park and Rec budget into the general fund. I’d love to be able to stay status quo. I can’t say that either. It may be that we need to transition the two positions out of the general fund and into the enterprise. What I will say is we’re not going to do that in one fell swoop. I don’t like to do that. And if we can do that gradually, if we decide that’s the direction we have to go, we would try to do that gradually. I can’t say that’s two years, or five years, or ten years. But I don’t want drop a $150,000 bomb in your laps, you know? But I think it behooves all of us to look at the revenue sources, look at the revenue amounts, look at what we’re charging, and really evaluate it in light of the market. And are we comparable to the Beede Center in Concord, or another operation that’s in a community similar to Sudbury.”
While no decisions have officially been made, it sounded as though it was inevitable that the funding the department receives from the Town will eventually go away. Sheehan went on to tell the commission that he does not expect implementation of such a transition to begin in Fiscal Year 2026, which gives the department some runway to deal with upcoming pool closures and ongoing disruptions from the construction of the community center. But Sheehan leveled with them again:
“I know I didn’t come in with a lot of good news tonight and I feel bad about that. I’d rather serve you up the truth as I see it at this point in time, rather than tell you things are going to be rosy and then 6 months from now come in and say we’re going to make a dramatic change and you’re on your own to figure it out. I don’t like it when people do that to me and I don’t want to do that to you.”
A discussion about fees ensued, and the commissioners referenced the last comparative fee study they did, indicating that user groups have not responded well to the last couple fee increases. Commissioners seemed unanimous in their desire not to increase fees. Vice Chair Laurie Eliason added:
“Then it gets passed on to the athletes and their families, right? So they have to cover their expenses, so that’s something to consider. But my recollection was that Sudbury seemed very high. And any time there’s a mention of increasing fees I shudder as a result. And we’re already seeing it not even just in fields, but also in programming.”
Searching the Couch Cushions
While the Park and Recreation commissioners were blunt in sharing their disappointment, as they had been advocating to find room in the Town budget to modestly increasing funding for the department, they were also appreciative for Sheehan’s candor. But that didn’t stop them from raising a variety of other issues they perceived with the department’s finances.
To start, the Recreation Field Maintenance Enterprise fund is being used to maintain bathrooms near the SMILE playground at Haskell Field, court maintenance throughout town, as well as supporting the Parks and Grounds budget. In other words: groups like Sudbury Soccer or Lincoln-Sudbury Youth Baseball that rent the fields are actually paying to maintain more than just the fields they rent.
To highlight how the maintenance funds are being stretched thin, member Bobby Beagan pointed out that some of those groups invest in field maintenance over and above what they pay in fees, either through donations or community service days. Commissioners felt this use of the enterprise fund already put undue pressure on local nonprofit user groups to subsidize what they saw as Town operations.
Member Mara Huston asked if it was possible to look at other groups in the Culture & Recreation functional area of the Town budget to share the burden. She expressed frustration that the Goodnow Library severed ties with the Friends of the Goodnow Library, which provided annual funding for the library. She felt that the library could create budget room for the Park and Recreation department if it were to reestablish a relationship with the Friends of the Goodnow Library. (1:22:25)
Sheehan appeared receptive to opening a dialogue about what expenses the Park and Recreation department should be covering with the fields enterprise fund, going so far as to say the Town needs to do some work to clarify where the line is drawn between the Park and Recreation department’s responsibilities and the general fund.
If they can shift some of the expenses carried by the department over to the Town budget, that could make it easier Park and Recreation to either enhance programming, or absorb salaries when the Town starts to shift them over the department to self-sustain.
Chair Ben Carmel asked about how the department might fit into a Town operating override, if that were to happen in the future. Sheehan was careful not to speculate, but kept the door open that the Park and Recreation department could factor into hypothetical override conversations. He also reminded the commission that overrides are not binding in the long-term. An override for a given service in one fiscal year is binding, but it just becomes part of the tax levy the next fiscal year, at which time the service can be cut and the tax dollars deployed elsewhere. (1:20:00)
More Talk
Town Manager Andy Sheehan made it clear that he viewed this meeting as the start, not the end, of conversations with the Park and Recreation Commission. It was also clear that the Park and Recreation Commission was eager to begin new conversations with their user groups… the folks who rent their fields and use their programs.
Member Bobby Beagan indicated that he felt it was critical to initiate broader community conversations and for user groups to speak up:
“But I do encourage folks to share this with their friends and other community members because I think it is so important that we need better involvement from the user groups and from passive recreations folks, and whoever it may be, because the community is so large that does take advantage of these different amenities and services. And we really need those people to start to get more involved so that the town knows that they’re not gonna sit back and just keep paying.”
Gif by MasterChefAU on Giphy
Member Mara Huston closed things out with a simple statement about how she perceives the value of recreation in Sudbury:
“We’re the tail and our tail is getting cut off. And we need to remember that without recreation there’s a lot of people who will be dramatically affected. And recreation provides an important component of the mental health of the community, and that part of it is priceless.”
If a fundamental change to their funding model is implemented, the Sudbury Park and Recreation department is faced with difficult choices about the future. Does it raise fees across the board? Create new membership options at the community center and Atkinson pool? Eliminate valued, but less lucrative, programs?
One thing seems certain after Monday’s meeting: change is coming.
Historical Commission Revisits Tercentenary Markers
By Kevin LaHaise
On September 17, the Sudbury Historical Commission continued ongoing discussions about the tercentenary markers along Sudbury’s roads. Questions have been raised about the historical accuracy of the language on the markers, as well as concerns that some of them may be offensive to Native people. Nearby Concord removed the signs in their community for similar reasons, and the Sudbury Select Board is looking to the Sudbury Historical Commission to make recommendations for Sudbury.
Member Michael Wallace provided a detailed presentation that went all the way back to the original authorization for the markers to be erected:
Wallace argued that the Commission should take the position that the signs be removed, but didn’t prescribe precisely how they should be removed, other than to advise against having the Town remove them unilaterally. The signs are the property of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and MassDOT itself doesn’t believe they have the authority to take them down either. Wallace also advocated for creating a new type of display with the removed signs, complete with interpretive materials with more accurate information. He suggested a reinterpretation could be done at the Haynes Garrison site.
Commissioners agreed that the signs should come down, and seemed excited at the idea of finding a way to preserve the signs and put them in more complete historical context for educational purposes.
The commission didn’t have all its members present for the meeting, so Chair Chris Hagger suggested having another discussion with the full Historical Commission, then initiating a conversation with the Historic Districts Commission when they hold an upcoming joint meeting. From there, a report or specific recommendations may be generated for the Select Board. It does appear, based on the conversation, that the Select Board could ultimately be left with the final decision on whether or not, or how, to remove the markers.
SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup
News
Half the Story
Massachusetts passed historic police certification reform. But even with the POST Commission, the public can’t see which cops have been part of the “officer shuffle.”
Events
Opinion
Voter Registration Celebration
By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury
The League of Women Voters of Sudbury and the Goodnow Library co-sponsored a voter registration table Tuesday, Sept. 17, in celebration of National Voter Registration Day. Now in its twelfth year, National Voter Registration Day is a civic holiday designed to encourage eligible voters to register, update their information, and ensure that they are #voteReady for upcoming elections.
Members of the Sudbury League helped residents to check their voter registration status; assisted with address, name changes, and first-time voter registration; and even helped a recently-naturalized citizen register for the first time.
If you missed this event, you can check your voter registration on the Secretary of State’s website, www.VoteInMA.com. Voters can use the website to register for the first time or to check and update their name, address, and party affiliation.
The voter registration deadline for the Nov. 5 presidential election is Saturday, October 26.
If you would like the League to host a voter registration table at your next community event, please reach out via email at [email protected] or via the League website www.lwvsudbury.org.
Image Credit: Laurie Ensley
Parting Thoughts
Next week is a bit of a a wild one. The Sudbury Public Schools School Committee meeting has been bumped from Monday to Tuesday night, right on top of the Select Board meeting. The catch? Both groups have the memorandum of agreement for the Combined Facilities Department on their agendas. (Here and here)
Presumably the Combined Facilities Director would be present to answer any questions that arise for either body, and it looks like the director is also giving presentations on the ADA transition plan and capital projects for SPS. That sets up a true test of the director’s facilities management mojo: can a human being be in two places at once?
Giphy
Double-booking a shared resource during an ongoing controversy about how that resource is shared and managed? You can’t make this stuff up.
Onward!